Möller, Olof

Abstract [en]

This essay have examined why Tunisia succeeded in democratizing when Libya did not. The two questions that this paper has set itself are the following: How can Tunisia's evolution from dictatorship to democracy after the Arab Spring be explained? How can the Libyan failure of democratization after the Arab Spring be explained? Based on four of Larry Diamonds nine factors in the book "The Spirit of Democracy: The Struggle to Build Free Societies Throughout the World", these two questions are answered. When answering these two questions, this paper applied a research design that is a comparative “Few Case Study”, more correct, a reversed "Most Similar Research Design" (MSRD). The analysis of the four factors showed that Libya is not democratized because the country did not receive any support after the international military intervention took place. It is known that “democracy by force” does not bring democracy overnight and the country would have needed help with evolving democracy. In Tunisia's case, the Arab spring was relatively peaceful, and the transition to democracy could happen in a calm way.